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I love books, all kinds of books inspire me; novels, reference and how-to’s. I’ve learned pretty much everything I know from books, so I find it terribly exciting that I’m now in a position to be comissioned to create my own. It takes very long time to make a quality how-to book, so I thought you might like to see how the process works!

I am a very hands on author, I like to have input into the final design and layout to ensure that my books have the right old world vintage feel to them. It’s very unusual for an author to be allowed to do this and I’m very grateful the publishers trust my vision enough to let me guide the visuals. I’m sure this makes me a nightmare for the layout artists but they always rise to the challenge and create beautiful work, as I’m sure you agree!

Each book starts with my pitch to a specific publishing house, it’s usually compact, just two sides of A4 with the books overall concept, my artistic and book writing credentials, who the book is aimed at and a list of the rough idea for chapters and projects to be included. I have to do this for each new book I suggest, and I may suggest 3 or 4 different concepts to several publishing houses before a comissioning editor sees one they think will sell. Obviously as a freelance writer this is all unpaid work.

Once a publisher has spotted something they like, they will put it forward at a publishers meeting. If everyone agrees it’s a great idea then it will go forward to the next shortlist meeting, if they don’t, it’s back to the drawing board for me, sending out more ideas or trying a different company! If they like it they will ask for a more detailed breakdown of the proposed book, this will have more descriptions of each project, maybe some moodboard visuals just to get the visual concepts across. The publishers will have another meeting at this point, often with the sales team to see if it fits with their book list and outlets, maybe talk about slightly different angles or projects too.

To get a proposal up to this point can take anything between three months to a year and if the sales team dont like it or someone decides its not quite right, the idea can still be rejected at this point.If everyone likes it, hooray! I’ll be offered a contract with the royaltypercentage, lots of legal details and the “advance” (which has to be paid back from any sales before I start earning royalties) as well as the deadline schedule. The deadlines are usually between three and six months, so from here on I go from 0 to 90 miles per hour in a frenzy of writing, photographing and making!The fun can begin! I draw sketches and notes for each project, then start to make each one up, photographing it step by step myself in my little photo studio which has been especially designed for this work. I use a light tent and two small daylight photographic lights and a Fuji Finepix bridge camera on a tripod. I often have to use a self timer because obviously I need both my hands to hold or demonstrate the technique I’m using!

Sometimes something doesn’t work the way I thought it would, and I have to retrace and rephotograph a project, or a few steps too, this is just part of the process and I’ve made some truly spectacular mistakes sometimes, but hey it’s good, because then I can give all the helpful tips of how not to do things as well as how to! I write all the steps up as I go along in huge detail, then simplify into more understandable methods for my readers afterwards…

Parallell to writing the projects during the week, at the weekends I’ll be dressing up and photographing the models for the intro stories, this is always epic fun, and a nice chance to see my friends and be silly. We joke that if you come for a visit and stand still long enough in my studio, you are bound to be dressed up and photographed!

They are photographed against a plain wall or back drop, then one of my pet digital artists, like Julian for Steampunk Emporium or Terry for Teaparty and Apothecary can be getting on and creating a beautiful fantastical background from my notes and sketchups, making a beautiful picture for the chapter openings.

Once all the projects are photographed and written up into steps, I can start on the intro stories, I love writing these whimsy pieces, this is the bit that feels like pure fun rather than work! They are inspired primarily from the actual object and then sometimes by friends or conversations in the steampunk community too.

Finally I have a finished manuscript and the step by step photos. Time to double check, triple check, edit and rewrite before submitting it to the Publishers!

As I’m getting some lovely email requests for more information for people writing Steampunk dissertations and projects and things, I thought I’d make it easy for those adorable academics amongst you and pop all the links together in one place…..

So this is just a short list of links to all the blogs/articles that I have been invited to contribute to over the past couple of years… you should find plenty of background information in this lot!I also have no doubt that with two new books out later this year! (woohoo and more about that later….) I shall have plenty more wisdom to impart, (why is Mr Woppit laughing?)

Let us start with a fun one I did with for the adorable Magda at Mookychick Next, this is a nice introduction to my world and art with Altered Bits BlogThis is from the Steampunk Community blog!Then a lovely one with the team who featured me in the Steampunk Bible…and theres even a part two…If you love my dresses and would like to hear more about how I started out in costume design, this one with Triskelle pictures is for you!

To watch an interview about steampunk fashion I did with The Muse TV click here for part one and here for part two! Oh and a heres a radio interview with The Geek ShowA crafty one with the Sweater Surgery and a fun one where I rant about gear wheels and Cogs for Steamed Blog.To learn about my place within the virtual worlds of Caledon and second life you may enjoy The PrimographLast but not least, of course, another two parter with Steamunk Chronicles here and then hereThere are probably more loitering about…. do let me know if I’ve missed yours or forgotten any and I will add them!

As part of ‘The Next Big Thing Blog Hop’, I was tagged by author of “How to bag a Jabbawock- a victorian monster hunters guide” Mr Kit Cox esq last week. Kits book is a splendid romp of an instruction manual with diagrams, photographs (yes photographs) and annecdotes on a variety of historic creatures and monsters complete with very gory descriptions of how to dispatch them!

The purpose of these posts is to introduce you to writers and their work, hopefully including some you haven’t heard of, whether a new release or a Work in Progress (WIP).

According to the rules, I will be answering some questions (the same ones for every other blog hopper) and I have some authors to nominate to continue the Hop! Some may already have been tagged but that’s no reason not to go and check out their work again!

This is a bit weird for me because I don’t know many authors, as I don’t go to writers groups or indeed read many blogs (hangs head in shame) I mainly read classic fiction and all those authors are no longer writing blogs….however these are a selection of cracking writers all of whom have connections of one sort or another with my mad fantasy/historical/steampunk world!

The next to be published will be “Steampunk Apothecary” although I have two books out next year (2013) “Steampunk Teaparty” will follow soon after….2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

It is a sequal of sorts to “Steampunk Emporium” so I wanted to continue Emilly and Mr Woppits adventures but also add something new to the experience and projects. I opted for a darker and more fairytale theme this time round, it really seemed to fit well with the alice in wonderland victorian sinister whimsy. Which is how I like my steampunk.

I’d wanted to do a fairytale jewellery project book for years but publishers kept stealing my idea, giving it to someone else, having it done badly, the book not selling, then rejecting my proposal again because “we’ve done that- it didn’t sell” so a large part of me is going “squeeeeeeeeeeeee! at last!!!!”

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Arts and Crafts. My book is a how to make jewellery and accessories book, with added stories and art.

4 What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

This is a bit of an odd question for me, because it’s a project how-to book although I do have a main character for the stories, Emilly ladybird is very much my own alter ego, and i use all the models for the photographs as my inspirations for the stories…

If we are playing fantasy football though, I’d like Sir Ian Mc Kellan and Derek Jacobi to play Dickens and Rivett and Christina Hendricks could do a fun Emilly… 5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

“Fairies, Airships and Adventure,

Making magical steampunk jewellery and accessories”

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It has been comissioned by a large craftbook publishing house.7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

It takes about a month to get the rough outline of the book together, then another two to make all the projects and do the step by step photography, then about six months of to-ing and fro-ing between me and the publishers to arrange the art direction/beauty photography/layout etc.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Well the little stories are very much light whimsy like Philip Reeves larklight trilogy, or perhaps Joan Aikens stories, but as it’s a craft book as well I’d say theres not much like it out there to be honest! perhaps Enchanted Adornments by Green Girl studios?

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I love making beautiful things and I wanted to carry on being able to pay the mortgage while I did so! My creative friends and the people I meet at Steampunk conventions are a huge inspiration too.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Think of it as an introduction to a fabulous fantasy world of Steampunk, If you don’t make things you’ll enjoy the stories, if you don’t read stories you’ll enjoy the projects! and if you don’t know what Steampunk is then Im pretty sure it’s time you found out!